COSHH Training: Hazardous Substances & Chemical Safety COSHH Course & Certified Chemical Safety Training Online Ireland

Hazardous substances hide in plain sight: the cleaning spray under the sink, the dust from sanding or baking, the fumes from a weld or an exhaust. Every year they cause a large share of work related ill health, from dermatitis to occupational asthma, and nearly all of it is preventable with the right knowledge. The course takes that risk apart step by step, then shows you the controls that remove it. This is the training for everyone who works with or near hazardous substances, from cleaners, chefs and nail technicians to mechanics, welders and site crews. Across two modules you cover what hazardous substances are, how they enter and harm the body, the hierarchy of control, engineering controls such as LEV, pre use checks on PPE and RPE, hazard labels and pictograms, Safety Data Sheets, safe storage and handling, and what to do in an emergency. Five video lessons, real workplace examples and short interactive checks keep it practical from the first slide to the final exam.

S.I. No. 619 of 2001 is the short answer. The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Chemical Agents) Regulations 2001 to 2021 apply wherever hazardous chemical agents are used or generated. Employers must determine the hazards, assess the risks, put prevention and control measures in place and provide information and training to everyone involved. Our course is written directly against that wording, which is why it satisfies the duty rather than merely gesturing at it.

All levels of employees who work with, or may come into contact with, hazardous substances in the workplace: catering and baking, cleaning, beauty and hairdressing, nail salons, engineering, vehicle repair and painting, welding, offshore oil and gas, printing, woodworking, agriculture, construction, manufacturing and healthcare. It equally suits employers, managers and supervisors who own the chemical risk assessments and control measures, and many businesses certify entire teams so everyone reads the same labels the same way.

The COSHH Course is €35.00 per person, and that is the full price. Team bookings get a volume discount applied automatically, and any 5 different courses cost just €100 flat (except our premium HACCP Level 3 and Health and Safety for Managers courses, which keep their own price), with one invoice and one account for all your records.

Yes, the whole course is online and works on any phone, tablet or laptop. There is no classroom day and no fixed start time: register, log in and begin the COSHH Course whenever it suits you, at home or on a break at work. Progress saves automatically as you go.

About 1-2 hours, and you do not have to do it in one sitting. Progress saves as you go, so you can stop after a lesson and pick it back up on another device. Your certificate is ready to download the moment you pass.

You download your COSHH Course certificate as a PDF the moment you pass the exam, day or night. It shows your name, the course, the date and a verification link, so an employer or inspector can confirm it in seconds. A copy stays in your account whenever you need to print it again.

Renewal is recommended every three years, or sooner if the substances or processes in your workplace change. We track the date for you and send a reminder before it lapses, so no certificate in your team expires without anyone noticing. The refresher is the same short online course, so staying compliant never costs a working day.

Nothing bad. You can retake the exam as many times as you need at no extra cost, and you can revisit any lesson before trying again. Most learners pass first time, because the questions test exactly what the course just taught.

This course is assessed by examination rather than by a practical, because the competence it builds is judgement rather than technique. You get unlimited attempts at the exam, at no extra cost.

Yes, and the platform is built for it. One company account covers every employee, shows you at a glance who has finished and who has not, stores every certificate in one place and gives you a single invoice for the lot. Group bookings get the volume discount applied automatically in your cart, and any 5 different courses cost just €100 flat (except our premium HACCP Level 3 and Health and Safety for Managers courses, which keep their own price).

They do. We are an official accredited provider and the certificate carries a verification link an inspector can check in seconds. It is accepted by employers in Ireland, the UK and across the EU, and behind it stand our accreditations: HSA Compliant, QQI Assessed, CPD and RoSPA Accredited.

COSHH stands for the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, the UK framework for working safely with chemicals, dusts, fumes, gases and biological agents, and it is the everyday name used across Ireland and the UK for this type of training. In Ireland the same duties come from the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Chemical Agents) Regulations 2001 to 2021, which apply the moment any hazardous substance is used or generated in a workplace, even ordinary cleaning chemicals or welding fumes. This course is written in compliance with COSHH 2002 and aligned with the Irish Chemical Agents framework the HSA enforces, so the certificate works for Irish workplaces and is recognised by UK employers too.

Yes. COSHH training, chemical safety training and hazardous substances training are three names for exactly the same qualification, and Irish employers, recruiters and auditors use all three interchangeably. Whichever wording appears in your job advert, tender document or audit checklist, this is the course it points to. One pass covers every version of the requirement: the certificate proves you can recognise hazardous substances, read labels and Safety Data Sheets, apply the hierarchy of control and respond to spills and emergencies, and its unique verification code lets anyone confirm it online in seconds.

There are four: inhalation, breathing in dusts, fumes, vapours and gases, which is by far the most common route; ingestion, swallowing a substance, usually from contaminated hands, food or drink; skin absorption, where a substance passes through the skin or damages it directly, causing conditions like occupational dermatitis; and injection, where a substance enters through a cut or puncture. The course dedicates a full video lesson to the routes of entry, because choosing the right control measure depends entirely on how the substance you work with actually reaches the body.

The final exam has 15 multiple choice questions, each with three possible answers, drawn from the two modules of the course. You need at least 12 correct answers out of 15, which is a 75 percent pass mark. There is no time limit, so you can think every question through calmly. If you do not pass first time, you can review any module and retake the exam as many times as you need at no extra cost, and your COSHH certificate downloads the moment you pass.

The hierarchy of control is the order in which control measures must be considered, from the most effective to the least. Elimination removes the hazardous substance or process completely. Substitution swaps it for a safer alternative, like replacing a solvent based product with a water based one. Engineering controls, such as local exhaust ventilation, general mechanical ventilation, segregating work processes and refuges for operators, isolate people from the exposure. Administrative controls change how people work, through safe systems, training and signage. Personal protective equipment and respiratory protective equipment come last, and only ever as a final layer, never a first answer. The course teaches the hierarchy with a dedicated video lesson and real workplace scenarios.

A Safety Data Sheet, or SDS, is the document a supplier must provide for every hazardous chemical, and it tells you how to identify, use, store and dispose of the product safely. The course walks through the key sections: identification of the substance, the supplier details, hazard identification, composition, toxicological information including routes of entry, accidental release measures, transport and storage information, exposure controls and first aid measures. You also learn to read hazard statements such as toxic if swallowed, precautionary statements such as wear eye protection, and the two signal words, Danger for the more severe hazards and Warning for the less severe ones.

Skin contact with irritants causes occupational dermatitis, with redness, itching, cracking and blistering, and certain triggers such as latex gloves can cause urticaria. Ultraviolet exposure outdoors is the most common cause of work related skin cancer. Inhaling dusts and fumes over time can cause silicosis from crystalline silica, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from smoke, dust and fumes, and occupational asthma from airway sensitisers. Some substances are carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic, and some gases asphyxiate by displacing oxygen. The course covers all of these effects so you recognise the early signs and take exposure seriously before harm builds up.

Yes, from anywhere in Ireland. The course is 100 percent online, so learners in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and every other county study the same accredited material and earn the same recognised certificate, with no travel and no classroom days. Start on the office laptop, continue on your phone during a break and finish at home. Progress saves automatically on every device, and the certificate is accepted by employers and inspectors across Ireland, the UK and the EU.

Yes, and the platform is built for it. The free Employer Dashboard lets you register staff in bulk, assign the COSHH course to each person, watch live progress and keep every certificate in one tidy screen, which is exactly what an HSA inspector wants to see at inspection. Discounts apply automatically at checkout: 15 percent off any 3 different courses, 10 percent off 10 or more courses, 20 percent off 50 or more, and any 5 different courses for a flat 100 euro (excludes the premium HACCP Level 3 and Health and Safety for Managers courses). Many businesses pair COSHH for everyone who handles chemicals with Manual Handling or Fire Safety for the wider team.